In this volume twelve contributions discuss the relevance, accuracy, potential, and possible alternatives to a literary reading of ancient Jewish writings, especially the Hebrew Bible. Drawing on different academic fields (biblical studies, rabbinic studies, and literary studies) and on various methodologies (literary criticism, rhetorical criticism, cognitive linguistics, historical criticism, and reception history), the essays form a state-of-the-art overview of the current use of the literary approach toward ancient Jewish texts. The volume convincingly shows that the latest approaches to a literary reading can still enhance our understanding of these texts.

Papers collected in this volume try to illuminate various aspects of philosophical theology dealt with by different Jewish and early Christian authors and texts (e.g. the Acts of the Apostles, Philo, Origen, Gregory of Nazianzus), rooted in and influenced by the Hellenistic religious, cultural, and philosophical context, and they also focus on the literary and cultural traditions of Hellenized Judaism and its reception (e.g. Sibylline Oracles, Prayer of Manasseh), including material culture ("Elephant Mosaic Panel" from Huqoq synagogue). By studying the Hellenistic influences on early Christianity, both in response to and in reaction against early Hellenized Judaism, the volume intends not only to better understand Christianity, as a religious and historical phenomenon with a profound impact on the development of European civilization, but also to better comprehend Hellenism and its consequences which have often been relegated to the realm of political history.

The Quran teaches that "God does not change people's condition unless they change their inner selves. The change has to occur inside us first, in our beliefs and attitudes, only then can it be seen on the outside. It also teaches how we can change our inner selves and thus improve our circumstances.
This book brings together a number of verses from the Quran that teach methods of personal change. Each verse is accompanied by advice on how to use its wisdom in daily life. The principles of personal growth taught in the Quran are simple but they are amazingly powerful, and they can be used by anyone who wishes to transform his or her life from mediocre existence to fulfillment and achievement.
A sentence in the Quran is called an aya, or a sign. It is a sign pointing to a deep truth that we need to focus on, decipher and learn to use in our lives.
The essays in this book were used to teach the Quran at weekly meetings of Muslim Reform Movement in Brookville, New York, www.mrmo.org. Each provides personal tools on how to apply the aya's wisdom to uplift one's life.

Since the emergence of disability studies over the last several decades, disability theorists have often settled for sweeping generalizations about "biblical" notions of disability. Yet, academic or critical biblical scholarship has shown that many texts involving disability in the Bible is much more nuanced than a casual reading or isolated proof texting may indicate. A primary goal of this volume is to familiarize a wide audience, including advanced students, scholars, clergy, and interested lay readers, with research on disability and the Bible done by scholars who specialize in biblical studies.

Binding Fragments of Tractate Temurah and the Problem of Lishana 'Aharina offers a critical edition of an important Talmud manuscript of tractate Temurah discovered in the library of New York University. Addressing the unique Lishana 'Aharina ("alternative version") phenomenon present in this tractate, the present volume suggests a new approach for understanding the editing and transmission of tractate Temurah. This volume also includes a thorough discussion of the conservation and treatment of the manuscript fragments, a codicological and paleographical analysis of the fragments, and a synopsis of the entire first chapter of this tractate. The present work is relevant for study of the redaction and transmission of tractate Temurah and the Babylonian Talmud, as well as for the study of Hebrew binding fragments.

Stories about gendered social relations permeate the Qur'an, and nearly three hundred verses involve specific women or girls. The Qur'an features these figures in accounts of human origins, in stories of the founding and destruction of nations, in narratives of conquest, in episodes of romantic attraction, and in incidents of family devotion and strife. Overall, stories involving women and girls weave together theology and ethics to reinforce central Qur'anic ideas regarding submission to God and moral accountability. Celene Ibrahim explores the complex cast of female figures in the Qur'an, probing themes related to biological sex, female sexuality, female speech, and women in sacred history. Ibrahim considers major and minor figures referenced in the Qur'an, including those who appear in narratives of sacred history, in parables, in descriptions of the eternal abode, and in verses that allude to events contemporaneous with the advent of the Qur'an in Arabia. Ibrahim finds that the Qur'an regularly celebrates the aptitudes of women in the realms of spirituality and piety, in political maneuvering, and in safeguarding their own wellbeing; yet, women figures also occasionally falter and use their agency toward nefarious ends. Women and Gender in the Qur'an outlines how women and girls - old, young, barren, fertile, chaste, profligate, reproachable, and saintly - enter Qur'anic sacred history and advance the Qur'an's overarching didactic aims.

This volume is a collection of essays written in honour of Martin G. Abegg from a range of contributors with expertise in Second Temple Jewish literature in reflection upon Prof. Abegg's work. These essays are arranged according to four topics that deal with various aspects of text, language and interpretation of the Qumran War Scroll, and concepts of war and peace in Second Temple Jewish literature. The contents of the volume are divided into the following four main sections: (1) The War Scroll, (2) War and Peace in the Hebrew Scriptures, (3) War and Peace in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and (4) War and Peace in early Jewish and Christian texts and interpretation.

The Adi Granth ('original book'), the primary scripture of the Sikhs, comprises approximately 3,000 hymns. Although the authorship of the hymns is well recorded, the history of the compilaiton of the Adi Granth - the creation of the Sikh 'canon' - is the subject of considerable speculation and debate. In this book, Gurinder Mann attempts to construct a comprehensive picture of the making of Sikh scripture, drawing on the recently discovered early manuscriots as well as the extensive secondary literature on the topic. His findings on some key issues differ from the traditional Sikh position and from the hypotheses of the other 20th-century scholars, as well as raising some entirely fresh questions. Mann's revised and expanded picture of the history of the text and institution of Sikh scripture will be of interest not only to scholars of Sikhism and Sikh religionists, but to scholars of comparative canon formation.

An Invitation to Biblical Poetry is an accessibly written introduction to biblical poetry that emphasizes the aesthetic dimensions of poems and their openness to varieties of context. It demonstrates the irreducible complexity of poetry as a verbal art and considers the intellectual work poems accomplish as they offer aesthetic experiences to people who read or hear them. Chapters walk the reader through some of the diverse ways biblical poems are organized through techniques of voicing, lineation, and form, and describe how the poems' figures are both culturally and historically bound and always dependent on later reception. The discussions consider examples from different texts of the Bible, including poems inset in prose narratives, prophecies, psalms, and wisdom literature. Each chapter ends with a reading of a psalm that offers an acute example of the dimension under discussion. Students and general readers are invited to richer and deeper readings of ancient poems and the subjects, problems, and convictions that occupy their imagination.

What is happening in Islam is of concern to more than Muslims. The Qur'an is the prime possession of Muslims: how then, are they reading and understanding their sacred Book today? This volume, originally published in 1985, examines eight writers from India, Egypt, Iran and Senegal. Their way with the Qur'an indicates how some in Islam respond to the pressures in life and thought, associated in the West with thinkers such as Kierkegaard, Marx, Camus, Kafka, Jung, Fanon and De Chardin.

Originally published in 1967, this Companion is designed to help readers of the Qur'an by giving them necessary background information. An account is given of ideas peculiar to the Qur'an, and the main variant interpretations are noted. A full index of Qur'anic proper names and an index of words commented on has been provided. Based on A J Arberry's translation, this Companion can be used with other translations, or indeed with the original text, since the verses are numbered.